The present invention relates to a field of liquid fuel combustion and, more particularly to delivering to a high-pressure fuel pump (or pumps) a conditioned fuel in the form of a solution in said fuel of such gases as CO2 or air or a mixture of gases with a purpose to achieve a high degree of a fuel dispersion in a combustion chamber of a reciprocating or gas turbine engine, or any other device having a combustion chamber.
It is common knowledge that the dispersion of a liquid fuel within a combustion chamber results in a highly developed active surface of this liquid fuel which allows the fuel to burn fuel more efficiently. The small size of the combustion chamber in a reciprocating engine, for example, may result in the partial deposition of the injected fuel on the piston and combustion chamber walls creating a liquid film on them. This part of fuel can not be burnt completely and may be lost in the exhaust. Uneven distribution of the liquid fuel particles over a volume of the combustion chamber causes a delay in flame propagation, lowering the efficiency of the combustion process, thereby delivering less power. High dispersion of the fuel would avoid these problems. Completely burned fuel delivers more power.
There are different ways to provide dispersion of the liquid fuel, for instance with the help of electronically controlled fuel injectors fed by high-pressure fuel pump or electronically controlled direct injection units, each of them comprising electronically controlled fuel injector and dedicated high-pressure fuel pump. Latest efforts in the area of the fuel direct injection system design by the most prominent automotive engine builders have resulted in the development of very high pressure injection systems—up to 2400 bar. This level of pressure is providing for very fine dispersion of fuel, thus ensuring a significantly improved efficiency of the internal combustion engine. But even those systems are not free from above mentioned shortcomings.
There are known attempts to disperse fuel by dissolving some gas, for instance air or CO2 or a mixture of gases in the liquid fuel at high pressure and subsequently injecting this solution into the combustion chamber. Dissolved gas is getting violently released from the solution if injected into the combustion chamber where pressure is lower than in the injected solution, providing for very fine and uniform dispersion of the liquid fuel.
Reference is had, in this context, to prior art patents, such as, for instance U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,406,955; 7,011,048; 7,523,747; 7,950,370. Those patents describe devices and methods that provide for the implementation of the described effect. The solution of a gas in a liquid is enhanced as the temperature is reduced. By introducing the gas at a low temperature or lowering the temperature of the liquid fuel at the time of introduction of the gas, solution of the gas in the liquid is enhanced.